The European instant classic noir series with anthropomorphic characters, especially private investigator John Blacksad, gained U.S. popularity when Dark Horse Comics published the three translated issues into one hardcover, earning the creators Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido three Eisner’s. And after a long break Blacksad returns to Dark Horse on July 11th with it’s fourth volume, Blacksad: A Silent Hell.

Although this is already a year of graphic novels thatI’vegottoget this is an automatic purchase. Anyone who’s read or flipped through Blacksad can understand the excitement behind this announcement. Aside from being one of our 2010 Favorites it’s one of the coolest and best looking comics I’ve ever read. A lot of fans agree.

The [French] cover:

Blacksad: Silent Hell will be set in New Orleans during the 1950’s. While hired to discover the whereabouts of a popular pianist Blacksad is going to get mixed up in voodoo, drugs, and the darkness of Mardi Gras. Unlike Dark Horse’s previous edition this will only collect one volume but will still be packed with a making-of section with interviews and sketches and two previously unpublished short stories.

In other words, it’ll be worth every freaking penny.

Pages from the story (which has already been released overseas) are sparse, we were able to find these though: